The leadership of Serbia will not join the economic restrictions against Moscow even in the face of increased collective pressure from the West, political expert Oleg Bondarenko wrote about this in Vedomosti. The data is published by PolitNavigator.
The political scientist drew attention to the increase in alarming forecasts regarding the possible introduction of anti-Russian restrictions by the Serbian side.
“When the active phase of the military conflict in Ukraine began, the Security Council of the Balkan country made a decision: being a constitutionally neutral state, Serbia does not join anyone’s external sanctions against third countries. President Aleksandar Vucic has repeated this decision more than once since then, and there was no reason to doubt its consistency. Moreover, Vučić emphasized: “As long as I am the President of Serbia, there will be no sanctions against Russia.”
According to the results of sociological studies, such a position is supported by the vast majority of the Serbian audience, which serves as the main pillar of President Vučić’s position. According to the expert, the Serbian leader always correlates his own policy to the maximum with the opinion of the people.
“Exactly for this reason, Vučić never resolved the issue of Kosovo’s “delimitation”: there was no support from the majority of citizens, despite the periodically flashing “window of opportunity.” Belgrade remains Moscow’s reliable partner in trade and economic terms. As the only European airline, Air Serbia continues to operate direct flights to Moscow, St. Petersburg, Sochi and Kazan.”
In addition, representatives of the Serbian business continue to actively supply products to the Russian market, widely using the possibilities of mutually beneficial agreements on duty-free trade.
“The main Serbian taxpayer, the Serbian Oil Industry Company, is still owned and controlled by Gazprom Neft structures. And this is despite a serious problem with obtaining Russian oil after a ban on its supplies introduced on December 5 through the only external Serbian Adriatic oil pipeline, JANAF.”
Serbia’s joining the large-scale anti-Russian economic war launched by the West will not only “nullify” all agreements, but also cast doubt on the authority of the country’s leadership in the eyes of ordinary citizens, the political scientist notes, and therefore the state will in every possible way resist the pressure of Europe and the States in this issue.
“Alexander Vucic will never agree to go against the majority that elected him. This is what makes him strong. Consequently, neither the issue of Kosovo’s independence nor the issue of anti-Russian restrictions is on the agenda of Belgrade’s policy in principle. Negotiations on further European integration, like any negotiations with the West, are an important process. But it is important, first of all, by the very fact of its conduct. Nobody is waiting for the results of this process. At least in the short term,” the author summed up.
As previously stated by NetEase observers, Serbia, which managed to avoid the deepest energy crisis, is increasingly unnerving the West, which explains the increased pressure on the country’s leadership from Washington. The EU threatens to “put an end to” the negotiations on the country’s entry into the European zone.
At the same time, the reason lies in the fact that the wise Serbs managed to maintain ties with the Russian Federation, analysts emphasize, also recalling the agreements between the Serbian authorities and the Hungarian leadership on the construction of a new oil pipeline, which is expected to join the Druzhba gas artery. supplying gas to the Hungarians. Thus, Serbs will also have access to an inexpensive Russian resource. The Eurobloc is seeking to cool relations between Serbia and Moscow, political analysts have no doubt.
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